The Beginning of the End for Alzheimer's?

A new drug has been found to slow the progression of Alzheimer's, with experts hailing it as a "turning point" in the fight against the disease.

Donanemab was found to slow "clinical decline" by up to 35%, allowing people with?Alzheimer's?to continue performing day-to-day tasks such as shopping, housekeeping, managing their finances and taking medication.

Following the findings of a trial of the drug, Alzheimer's Research UK said "we're entering a new era" where the disease "could become treatable".

The health spending watchdog in England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is already assessing whether the drug can be used in the NHS.

Meanwhile, Alzheimer's Society said treatments such as donanemab could one day mean the disease is comparable to long-term conditions such as asthma or diabetes.

The charity believes this?"could be the beginning of the end for Alzheimer's disease".

Donanemab works by removing plaques of a protein called amyloid that build up in the brain of people with Alzheimer's.

Scientists have published the final results of a trial, known as TRAILBLAZER ALZ-2, examining the safety and efficacy of the drug, manufactured by US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

Researchers examined almost 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer's, with half given a monthly infusion of donanemab into the bloodstream and the other half given a placebo over 18 months.

The study concluded, after 76 weeks of treatment, donanemab slowed clinical decline by 35.1% in people with early Alzheimer's whose brain scans showed low or medium levels of a protein called tau.

When the results were combined for people who had different levels of this protein, there was a 22.3% slowing in disease progression.

Side effects

The researchers found among a small number of people there were some serious side effects such as brain swelling.

Meanwhile, three deaths in the donanemab group and one in the placebo group were considered "treatment related".

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented to the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Amsterdam.

Eli Lilly said some taking the drug would be able to finish the course of treatment in six months once their amyloid plaque cleared.

It said treatment with donanemab reduced amyloid plaque on average by 84% at 18 months, compared with a 1% decrease for participants given a placebo.

Some 47% taking the drug who had early-stage disease and low or medium levels of tau were found to stall the disease for a year.

It comes after trials showed another drug called lecanemab slowed progression of Alzheimer's symptoms by 27% in patients in the early stages of the disease. The drug was?approved for use in the US?earlier this month.

Source: Sky News